The Metro Arts Commission will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year with projects that will put more artwork in public spaces across Nashville.

Mayor Megan Barry and the commission announced the series of initiatives, including a citywide art exhibit, on Thursday. They will take place throughout 2018.

Metro Arts was created by ordinance in December 1978 during the administration of former Mayor Richard Fulton, according to a news release. Since its founding, the agency has pushed for support for public art.

Among other things, the commission has supported increases in arts funding, hosted arts festivals and established an arts-based program for young people in the court system.

The commission is planning a number of events to mark its 40th year, including:

A new logo and aesthetic designed to reflect a changing city;

The "40 for 40" program, which will put 40 pieces of local artwork in the historic Metro courthouse;

Nashville's first citywide temporary art exhibit in May and June, which will use food to explore "rising rents, widening income gaps, gentrification, and housing displacement";

And, in April, a “Poetry in Motion Bus” in partnership with MTA that will include poetry by local poets and a poetry anthology led by the Porch Writer’s Collective.

“Metro Arts is a great example of public service in action — a department that coordinates within the city and with the community to ensure that every Nashvillian has access to arts and culture in their life," Barry said in a statement.

“Metro Arts is successful because our job is to support citizen engagement with artists and cultural life,” Jennifer Cole, executive director of the commission, said in a statement. “We are focused on how artists and cultural organizations are central to neighborhoods and their development. We are focused on lifting up the cultural stories and narratives of all Nashvillians.”